Tim Powers Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR: Thomas Head
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| Review Summary |
Poor Brendan Doyle, originally summoned to accompany a time travelling expedition as an expert on Samuel Taylor Coleridge, whose lecture a group of the very cream of well-to-do of 20th century English speaking society plans to attend. He no sooner goes back in time with them than he is lost in time, in space and eventually in body - for he does not end the novel in the same physique, under the same name, or in the same century in which he begins.
Through the machinations of not one but FOUR malign magicians (all of whom wish merrie olde England ill because of its considerable influence over "modern" [meaning 19th century] Egypt), including one who can SWITCH BODIES AT WILL, Doyle visits not only 19th century London (weird enough) but also that same city during the great freeze of 1660.
In the process he has a strange revelation about the authorship of his favorite poem, the life story of his favorite poet, and the true quality of the brandy and cigars of a supposedly more genteel era.
I haven't even, in this summary, touched on the other marvels of this book: the rookery of St. Giles, the master's lair in Cairo, the poor cobbler Eshvlis, the vagaries of depliation before the invention of Nair... if any of this intrigues you at all, or even if it doesn't. you're in for a treat.
I'm not overly thrilled with the special hardcover edition published in 1989 - the type is obnoxious (especially for any older readers with whom one might wish to share) and the illustrations of dubious quality. HOWEVER, this IS a work worthy of owning in a durable edition, so I would still recommend getting it that way if the paperback edition (still in print) catches your fancy. If you enjoy even one reading of the paperback, get the hardcover; you'll want to loan out the paperback again and again until it disappears or falls apart.
Kate Sherrod, Resident Scholar
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Brendan Doyle is a scholar studying 17th century poets and struggling to recover from the death of his wife. But when a very rich man offers him a very large sum for a very simple job, things get so complicated so quickly that Brendan suddenly has a lot of other things to worry about. For example, he's got to survive *in* the 17th century, not just study it. And some people - quite a few, really - are trying to kill him. And change the course of history. This book shows Powers' minute familiarity with the time period as well as his boundless imagination.
Ivy, Resident Scholar
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 30%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 40%
Tone of book
- suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION?
- science fiction story
Time Travel:
- largely backwards/past
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Time Travel story?
Yes
Cultural problems, alien culture
Yes
Culture clash-
- one human from different culture of other humans
Intense exploration of society's culture?
Yes
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- scholar
- writer
Age:
- 20's-30's
- 40's-50's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
- healthy but a geeky weakling
Main Adversary
Identity:
- magical being
- an organization
Age:
- long-lived adults
Profession/status:
- thief/con artist
Has magical powers?
Yes
Magical/mental powers of main antagonist:
- clairvoyant
- teleportation
- can cast all sorts of spells
- is very quick
Eccentric:
Yes
- eccentric
- obsessed
- emotionally unstable
- wild
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a moderate amount
- a lot
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Very much smarter than other characters
Physique
- average physique
Setting
Earth setting:
- 20th century
- 19th century
- 17th century
Takes place on Earth?
Yes
Style
Person?
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- explicit references to torture
- very explicit references to deaths and torture
scientific jargon? (SF only)
- a moderate amount of scientific explanation
How much dialogue?
- significantly more dialog than descript
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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